In each issue (of our flyer), we ask Masuda, the owner of Antshop, to introduce us his favorite place around the store. In this issue he introduce us his favorite ramen place and a coffee shop next to it.

[Shimomae Shoten] serve traditional style ramen. The one we use to crave when we where kids, the one before Syo-yu (Soysauce) Tonkotsu emerged in our area (Syo-yu Tonkotsu is now call a Yokohama’s style ramen) . Shimomae ramen is chinese inspired clear broth soup which is spiced up by a bit soy-sauce. Their noodle is thin and a bit crinkly. The crinkly bit catches just the right amount of soup when you slurp the noodle. (Yes, slurping.) Masuda’s favorite at Shimomae is wonton ramen spiced up with salt. He ask the owner to exchange soy-sauce to salt. (It’s not on the menu) Why? because, the soup is rich in flavor and just a tad of salt will do it. (The picture above is salt wonton ramen. Lovely isn’t it?) Shimomae have a unique ramen call Curry Ramen. What is it like? Well, it’s a bowl of ramen with it’s clear broth but without the toppings but a ladle full of beef curry poured on top of it. Wow, right? It sell well during the hot & humid summer days.

Another store Masuda mentioned in the flyer was [Mocha Bear Coffee] which is located right next to Shimomae Shoten. This place specialized in Yemen coffee bean which the owner imports by himself. He also sells coffee roaster machine ( I think that’s his main job) and opened a cafe to introduce his selections of beans and roasters. Mocha bear serve good coffees. Their level of hand pouring is getting better day by day.

—

The little section on the bottom right (of our flyer) we wrote about how Daikan Zaka is turning into a cafe street. As you know, Daikan Zaka (Zaka means “hill” in Japanese so it should be Daikan Hill in English) is a hill Antshop is located. It’s a hill which leads us to Yamate area with mostly houses, started with 1 to 2 retail store. A flower shop since 1873, should be one of the first store on Daikan Zaka but now we have variety of retail stores on this hill. This hill somehow is booming with newly open cafes. Starting from the top of the hill downwards, PATY CAFE —-> HAHA CAFE —-> SAKURA —-> ET MOTOMACHI —-> KOUROAN CAFE —-> KOPELANI. That’s quite a lot to choose from in such a small area. All cafes are family owned small business, which is another good part of it.